Raiders' OC Lombardi Midweek Offensive Update

LAS VEGAS, Nev.--The Las Vegas Raiders (3-3) are headed to the Windy City this weekend to play the Chicago Bears (1-5) and get to above .500 this season.

With that contest looming, Offensive Coordinator Mike Lombardi gave his weekly offensive update, and we it all for you.

You can watch the entire video above or read the transcript below:

Offensive Coordinator Mick Lombardi

Q: What have you seen from Michael Mayer? He had a pretty big game on a Sunday. Coach Lombardi:

“Yeah, Mike did a lot of things in the passing game and running game, like we discussed back in previous weeks. His role is growing, his production is growing, and I've seen a player who's gained a little confidence from the production and feels himself kind of give some production in terms of statistics. But like I told you guys before, I think he felt some production from his contribution in the running game and as a pass blocker and those type of things. And then now it's kind of just translated into his production on the field in terms of statistics. But, again, none of those plays have changed or anything like that. It's just the quarterback is doing a good job of going through some progressions and finding him, and then the coverage is dictating where the ball should go, and he's found some production there. So, I'm pleased with Michael's progress. He still has a long way to go and he's aware of that. But he's a player, like I said, who gets better every week and so continuing to go on that journey has been fun.”

Q: As his confidence grew, did you see other players around him have their confidence grow in him as well?

Coach Lombardi: “Sure. And it's funny, you saw the play to Tre Tucker last week in the game on third down where he caught the ball down the field -- I think all those young guys who put a lot of work, all those older guys kind of they're really happy for him because they see their hard work and production pay off, and not only does the production give you confidence but your fellow teammates belief in you and that affirmation of: ‘Hey, yeah, you can do this’, kind of gives you some confidence too. Like Jakobi Myers was the first person to go get Tre Tucker after that big play, which is really cool to see it because we saw it in preseason and in practice, and now we're happy for him that the hard work is kind of paying off a little bit here and there. But I think all these guys would agree that production is great, but I think winning the game is probably the No. 1 priority.”

Q: Is there a game plan in place for when you have to go to your backup quarterback at a moment's notice?

Coach Lombardi: “I think every backup quarterback in the NFL, his No. 1 job is to prepare like the starter. And that's what both our guys do on a weekly basis, whether it's Aidan [O’Connell] or Brian [Hoyer]. So, you've go in there and say: ‘Hey, you know what, I'm going to make sure in every quarterback meeting, I'm thinking like the starter. I'm going through my reads in practice like the starter, whether it's a mental rep or a physical rep.’ And really you don't get the live reps, if you will, in practice because that goes to the starter and there's so only so many limited reps. But you can get those mentally and you can get those throughout meetings and tape watch and film watch. It's the hardest job in sports to be the backup quarterback and to be going in the game and not knowing, not having a feel and then all of a sudden now you're playing. So, I thought Brian did a good job of that coming out of halftime and executing the offense and getting us into scoring position. It's a difficult task, but all of those guys prepare. You saw with Chicago last week, the same thing, Justin Fields gets hurt and their backup quarterback has to go in as a young player. I'm sure he prepared just like the starters, just like Brian did.”

Q: From the coach's perspective, how does that kind of change for you guys, or does it?

Coach Lombardi: “No, you're still trying to win a game, you’re not trying to lose the game. So, you're still trying to go out there and win the game and put points on the board. We were winning by I think 10 points at the time, but it was not going to be enough to win. We had to go out there, and not protect the backup quarterback, but to go out there and try and win the football game because that's really at the end of the day the No. 1 priority. If we didn't think the backup quarterback could do that, he wouldn't be our backup quarterback. So, that's obviously something we would try and take into account there.”

Q: In going back over the film, how did Brian Hoyer play?

Coach Lombardi: “I thought Brian did a very good job. On the first third down in the game, he gets in there and completes a ball down the field. I think as a whole offensively we have to improve in the red area. That's a big goal for us this week moving forward. And, again, it's more execution based in terms of penalties, missed opportunities, and getting a hat on a hat in the running game. And then unforced errors that we can control offensively. Nothing that the opponent really is doing to us. But overall, I thought Brian did a good job moving the football, got us in scoring range, but just as a whole offensively, the red zone production needs to be better.”

Q: What is the next step in the red zone? What do you have to do better and kind of a self-evaluation maybe?

Coach Lombardi: “First of all, we can't commit turnovers, that's No. 1. And the second one is, we can't commit penalties. You look at the first drive in the game, we're down there and we have a third-and-one on the nine-yard line, and we pop a run to the four-yard line with JJ [Josh Jacobs]. First down on the four-yard line and we get a holding penalty. That's unacceptable. We can't do that because now it's third-and 11 all the way back at the 16-yard line. The same thing, we moved the ball down the field, and we got a pass interference penalty with Jakobi [Meyers] and now it's second-and-20. The red zone is hard enough and when you put yourself behind the sticks and then commit turnovers, so you're going to have a tough day and that's unfortunately what we did so we've got to correct those moving forward. Again, technique based, execution based and then concentration based because when you get to the red area, I think that first drive we had the game was 18 plays or 17 plays, and that takes mental stamina to finish the game and finish the drive, in terms of execution. We did a good job of executing on third down throughout the series there, but our execution down there needs to be at an all-time high and our mental stamina to finish those needs to be at all-time high. But our players are eager to fix that, they're aware of it and we're ready to go to work on that tomorrow.”

Q: In evaluating the last couple of weeks, what is the key to getting Davante Adams more involved? Is it something that teams are doing to you, or is it something that you guys need to do better?

Coach Lombardi: “Yeah, we'll go in every week and try to assess the game plan, and say: ‘Hey, how can we get our skilled players the football?’ We have a lot of skilled players and Davante is a very good one for us. And he's had production for us this past year and a half and he will continue to do that. Every game plan meeting we have, every situation we go into, we look at: ‘Hey, what is the best position we can put them in, not only to score points and get first downs, but how can we get everybody involved?’ And Davante is at the epicenter of that all the time.”

Q: Yesterday,Coach Josh McDaniels was kind of talking about putting running back Zamir White in a little bit more to keep Josh Jacobs fresh. What were some things that you liked about Zamir in the limited snaps he had?

Coach Lombardi: “I'm really pleased and proud of the way Zamir has been playing, and I think his role has been growing each week. Again, this doesn't get very noticed in terms of production, but we call the jam protection where he hit the (defensive) end and then got out on a check down and they played a certain coverage, there was nobody open and Jimmy [Garoppolo] did a great job of finding the back. But the chip on the end eliminated the rush and then he got out on his check down and got positive yards. That's being a dependable player and that’s doing your job. I thought Zamir has done a great job of doing his job. A running play might not be there in terms of holes, but he sticks his foot in the ground and gets vertical for positive yards. He's done a better job of that each week, and he's done a very nice job of just playing off of JJ on early downs, which he'll continue to do. But he's a player who got a lot of reps in training camp and a lot of reps throughout the spring. I think those reps and then it goes back to the confidence thing, a couple of plays here and there of just getting your pads hit, getting your bell rung a little bit and getting the ball downhill, your confidence kind of takes off a little bit. And you're seeing that I think with a lot of young players on our team.”

The Silver and Black will head on the road to take on the Chicago Bears on Sunday, Oct. 22, at 1:05 p.m. EDT/10:05 a.m. PDT.

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